Just one day after Israel made good on its promise to strike back at Iran for its drone and missile attacks against Israel on Monday, with bombing inside Iran, Iraq (Baghdad and Babil), and Syria, there are reports of new bombing in Iraq on Friday.
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Read: BREAKING: Israel Has Started Bombing Iran, Biden Last-Ditch Appeasement Attempt Has Failed
Social media has been flooded with video of the attacks, thought to be focused on Iran-affiliated militia groups. One video claims that eight were killed in the airstrikes. Note: Because of the breaking nature of the story, it’s not possible to verify the sources.
This is a breaking story. RedState will provide further updates as they become available.
UPDATE [4/19/24, 8:40 p.m. Eastern]: The Times of Israel is reporting that a coalition of Iran-affiliated militias confirms the bombing of one of its bases in Iraq, although it isn’t clear who made the airstrike, at the time of this writing:
BAGHDAD — An airstrike early Saturday hit a base used by the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias in Iraq, the group says in a statement.
It’s not clear who was responsible for the purported attack, which came a day after a suspected Israeli strike in Iran, but militia officials blame US forces.
A US official says there were no US airstrikes in Iraq. The official speaks on the condition of anonymity to provide details that are not public.
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UPDATE[4/19/24, 8:40 p.m. Eastern: In another update, there are new details on the location of the airstrike and one reported death in its aftermath, via Reuters:
BAGHDAD — A huge blast rocks a military base used by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces to the south of Baghdad, two PMF and two security sources tell Reuters.
The two security sources say the blast was a result of an unknown airstrike, which happened around midnight.
The two PMF sources point out the strikes did not lead to casualties but caused material damage. However, an Iraqi interior ministry source quoted by AFP says the “bombing” killed one person and wounded eight others.
Sources in the PMF, also known as the Hashed al-Shaabi, say the strikes targeted a headquarters of the Iran-backed grouping of militias at the Kalso military base, near the town of Iskandariya around 50 kilometers south of Baghdad.